Governors

Governors’ Role

The governors’ role is to oversee the strategy of the school; to act as a sounding board for issues being reviewed within the school and to ensure that the school is accountable to all stakeholders including parents, staff, pupils, Brighton and Hove Local Authority and the local community. Governors are not involved in the day to day running of the school, which is managed by the Senior Leadership Team. Governors are guided by the governance handbook and all agree to act according to the PJS Governors Code of Conduct 2018.

The full governing body usually meets three times a term. At these meetings, the governing body carries out its three core functions:

ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;

holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff;

overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure money is well spent.

Structure of the Governing Body

In March 2014 it was unanimously agreed to reconstitute the governing body of Patcham Junior School and the legal structure now allows for: 3 elected parent governors, 1 local authority governor, 1 elected staff governor, 1 headteacher staff governor and 9 co-opted governors. The aim of this restructuring was to ensure the make-up of the governing body is entirely guided by the skills offered by the individuals in order to make the governance of the school more effective. Following a self-evaluation exercise in June 2017, in preparation for the new school year and new leadership, the governing body has again reorganised its structures by disbanding the Resources and Curriculum Committees.

The majority of governors are now ‘co-opted’. Where vacancies arise, new governors can be invited to join by the governing body as co-opted governors based on the skills they offer. The staff governor is elected from and by the staffing body and parent governors are elected from and by the parent body. The LA governor is chosen by the governing body from candidates put forward by the local authority. With the exception of the Headteacher governor, all governors are appointed for a term of 4 years, may resign at any time and are not automatically reappointed at the end of their term. The Headteacher may choose to be a Headteacher governor.

Click here to find out who is in the governing body at Patcham Junior School. The next meeting date is 3rd December 2018 and to read the minutes of previous meetings clickhere.

Vacancies

The governing body of Patcham Junior School currently has two vacancies in the co-opted category. We would be interested to hear from potential volunteers and particularly those with skills and experience in Finance, Human Resources (HR) and/or business people with links in the Patcham community. There are also vacancies in other categories.

Governors are all volunteers who wish to make a positive contribution to the school and the education of all its students and governors find it a rewarding experience. A governor’s term of office is four years.

The governing body’s overriding responsibility is to work in partnership with the Headteacher, to promote the continuous improvement in the performance of the school. We play an important part in raising school standards through our three key roles.

As a governing body we will meet at least nine times during the academic year.

We take training seriously and there is a full induction programme for new governors and excellent training provided by the local authority to ensure we maintain the skills necessary to fulfil our role.

If you are interested in joining or assisting the governing body, please contact janetjohnson@patchamjun.brighton-hove.sch.uk for further information and an application form is here. Further information is also available from:

What am I letting myself in for?In serving as a governor, you would need to commit to attending three evening meetings per term, take time to attend governor training courses and to work with school staff to understand the school’s plans and activities. In time you would be expected to develop an area of specialism and contribute to working groups as required from time to time as appropriate.

Please feel free to contact the Chair of Governors via the School Office to find out more.

Contacting the Governors

If you wish to contact the governors, please email the school office via the form on our contact page, or write to: